“Stuck Inside of a Mind Worm With This Illuminati Alien”

Dominick Rabrun, Reddit user cblackula, is the 27-year-old creator, animator, and head writer of Hip-Hop RPG, an animated mini-series that recreates the aesthetic of old-school role-playing games (RPGs) and casts modern rappers as the main characters. The series features Kendrick Lamar as the show’s time-traveling protagonist, but its sidekicks are just as interesting: Drake is a White Mage; Tyler, The Creator is a goblin; and Macklemore—well, he can’t stop apologizing.

Rabrun debuted the pilot episode a little over a year ago on YouTube. Soon after, fans formed a community on Reddit called hhhrpg, where they discuss the show and offer suggestions for the storyline. We followed up with Rabrun, now hard at work on wrapping up Episode 5, to talk about what’s in store for our hero Kendrick, how redditors help him write the show, and why a bunch of dicks made him take a break from YouTube.

So to recap, it’s been almost six months since you put out Episode 4. Could you—

Dominick Rabrun: Really? Oh my God!

Yeah. Sorry.

Oh, nooo!

I’m not trying to start by calling you out! I just want you to remind us where the characters left off.

I’m running a parallel storyline, so I’m basically Games of Thrones-ing it. Where we left off: Group A is the group that Kendrick left behind. They just got done fighting a boss, and now they know that MF Doom is the snitch. Kendrick thought he went back in time—he actually didn’t. He’s stuck inside of a mind worm with this Illuminati alien who’s injured, and he has to fight with her to get out of this thing.

What is a mind worm?

It’s giving away the story a little bit, but alright, I’m just saying it. They’re like worms the size of shopping malls that burrow underground. They consume people. Illuminati take people in droves and just shove them inside of these worms… [The series] is probably going to be like 10 more episodes.

Hip-Hop RPG/Dominick Rabrun

People send you story ideas on Reddit and Twitter. How much of that feedback do you use?

I pay attention to all that stuff. I read, I’d say, 80 to 90 percent of the comments, even though sometimes it hurts. I really have to put my ego aside and think about when it makes sense. Two or three people messaged me and said, “The battles are too long. There’s too much time in between when the battle starts and when it ends.” You have to sit there and watch—have you played Final Fantasy 7?

[ashamed] I have not.

[judgy] Oh. Okay.

[still ashamed] Am I missing out?

[still judgy] You kind of are. But it’s so old now. If you’re going to play it, wait for the PS4 Remake.

Hip-Hop RPG/Dominick Rabrun

There was a concept in that game where if you’re getting into a fight, you’re not just bashing each other. It’s like you’re waiting in between turns. So I was simulating that in Episode 2. There were a bunch of people who told me to change that and I changed it in Episode 4.

Hip-Hop RPG/Dominick Rabrun

What can we expect to see in the next episode?

More questions about the Illuminati will be answered. The next few episodes are going to be very Kendrick-heavy. He’s going to meet another group inside of the worm. This project is almost too ambitious, but I really think if I can execute this the way I want to with help from these other guys I’m working with, it could be really amazing.

Where do you find inspiration?

I get strong visual imagery from songs. I pay attention to the feel of how things are being sung, how things are being rapped, and, of course, beats. Certain beats sound more ominous. Anything that sounds like it could be in a video game, or like you could be fighting an alien while you’re listening to it.

Hip-Hop RPG/Dominick Rabrun

You have a fan community for Hip-Hop RPG at Reddit’s hhhrpg community. How did that get started?

Someone else started it. I didn’t think about making a subreddit. Someone else wanted to make their version of Hip-Hop RPG, a playable version, which is something that always comes up. I want to focus on this fake game that I’m making. [laughs]

Maybe after the whole thing’s done, if someone wants to talk to me about making a game, then we can deal with the headache of the legal issues of using people’s likeness and all that stuff.

How has feedback from redditors influenced you and the show?

It’s overwhelming. A lot of good personal interactions. Whenever I post on [Reddit community] HipHopHeads, it’s received the best there. People are into the Easter eggs. Like me mentioning Based God, or putting the MF Doom Easter egg in there, or “I don’t like shit, I don’t go outside” being written on the wall. People will comment on that.

They’re always looking for little things hidden inside the video, which I think is another good sign that people are really engaging. In this day and age, it’s amazing to get anyone’s attention for longer than three seconds.

Hip-Hop RPG/Dominick Rabrun

I loved it! I thought it was amazing that it got to the front page. The animation thing—people love it. We’re all just big kids. You see things that are super colorful and vibrant in front of you and we’re drawn to that. He’s talking to Snoop Dogg in his office and they’re getting blowjobs from the people who work there. It’s ridiculous, and I think it lends itself to that medium.

I think animation captures people’s attention even more than real people. Especially when it’s done well. Snoop Dogg had Doggystyle—the cover of that album was a bunch of cartoon dogs. It’s something that’s always been close to hip-hop.

Dream scenario: If you could animate a music video for any artist, hip-hop or otherwise, what song would you choose and what would your video look like?

Oh, man! I’m going to be a rebel and do a non-hip-hop song.

[At this point in the conversation, Rabrun is distracted mid-answer by a scene outside his window.]

These guys outside my building are lighting up some marshmallow on a stick and dipping it into a jar. What are they doing? They’re lighting it on fire! What the hell? I think they’re practicing fire-spitting. He put it in his mouth! Oh, Jesus. How can they— Alright, I’m not going to look at them. They’re practicing fire-eating. What the fuck? They’re right in the parking lot, just eating the flaming marshmallows. It looks like cloth wrapped on the end of a spike, and they keep dipping it in their mouth. I’ll send you a picture after this.

After pausing to snap this picture to prove that he wasn’t just stalling, Rabrun gives his answer. (Photo courtesy of Dominick Rabrun)

The real question is, do I want to do something corny and goofy or something really grand? Beach House just put out this song called “Days of Candy.” I think it’s one of their most ambitious songs to date. I’d love to do something where it’s like some samurai android chick in a cyber-punk world jumping out of an airship. That’s what I imagine when I listen to this song.

Let’s end with the beginning. You got your start doing live sketches on Omeggle and Chatroulette. How did you transition from that to what you’re doing now?

When Omeggle first came out, [Penny Arcade] posted a comic where one of the main characters goes on Chatroulette. He’s playing this game called I Will Draw You, where he says he’s going to draw someone, and they get excited, and he just draws dicks all over their face. I thought to myself, “That’s fucking mean. I can’t do that. But the drawing part seems fun.” So I just took that and I ran with it.

Unfortunately, you have to sit through so many dicks…so many of them. After [that], I took a break from YouTube for like a year. It wasn’t until three years ago, I got this idea that I’m never going to be the best visual artist, or the best at animation, but if you combine everything about you that you can do and present that to people, that’s a pretty unique thing.

Rabrun released the fifth installment of Hip-Hop RPG in September. If you haven’t seen the first four, you can watch them all on Rabrun’s YouTube channel, Dom’s Sketch Cast. If you’re all caught up—or if you just want to see Kendrick and an Illuminati alien exploring a mind worm—check out the latest episode below:

This article first appeared on Reddit’s Upvoted community on August 12.